


hearts can be well-hidden, and you betray them with your tongue

by unluckyloki



Series: death is only the end if you assume the story is about you [4]
Category: DCU, Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, MLM WLW solidarity, Pirates, Space Pirates, Tim Drake the accidental pirate, Treasure Planet inspired AU, alien planets, mentions of slavery and a tyrannic government, not the one everyone would want though
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-11
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2020-09-27 02:11:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20399971
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/unluckyloki/pseuds/unluckyloki
Summary: It’s been months since he went through the Dark and ended up in the weird new galaxy with illogical physics laws. It’s been a bit less since he started settling in, finding his own role in the crew, new friendships and interests, reasons to go on.So of course that's exactly when it all goes to shit.





	1. i don't consider myself a liar but i don't always tell the truth

**Author's Note:**

> TW for homophobia
> 
> YAY I'm finally back to writing, it's been almost a month! Can't promise that the updates will be more frequent, I've found a job and am finding my new footing, but do not despair - I will finish these series!
> 
> I'll check for the mistakes tomorrow, but I have more or less resigned myself to the fact that no matter how many times I check, I will always find some typos after I post the story  
So, if you see them - feel free to let me know

When Tim comes to, he's surprised to find himself in his room.

The surprising part is that he's not tied up.

Also, his head is throbbing and there's a tender spot on the back of it. He hisses in pain as soon as he touches it.

"Bo says he's very sorry 'bout that," Jil says somewhere to his right.

Tim turns too fast and his vision swims. As soon as it clears out, he sees Jil and Bo sitting by the side of his bed. Bo cringes when Tim meets his eyes and looks away.

"Like, really-really sorry," Jil feels the need to specify. "We've been meaning to tell you for a while now, but couldn't find the time."

"Oh, because a month is not enough time to tell me you're actually _pirates,_" Tim bristles.

Jil winces at his tone. Tim notices for the first time that their majestic burgundy hair is tied up in a knot on top of their head, out of the way. It's not a common sight for someone who has prided themselves in having long and silky hair they put a lot of effort into.

They're also wearing tarred and disheveled clothes and Tim knows from experience they must have come straight from the fight.

"Yeah, about that," Jil starts uneasily, after having exchanged a glance with Bo. "We knew you wouldn't approve, with what you've told us of Earth."

Tim has told them a bit about vigilante justice back on Earth and maybe has shown too much approval and knowledge about it. Well, the others started it by saying that there's no female Green Lanterns, so he just had to interject.

"Bo says you're worried about innocent people getting hurt most, but we're not like that, I swear! We never attack small ships, we never kill. We only raid the wealthy cruisers from Thelia, because they are obnoxious pompous bastards and if you'd ever interacted with them, even for once, you'd understand."

"The fact that those people are morons doesn't mean you can rob them!"

"They are hogging most of the system's crystal trade and a lot of planets are starving because of them and their laws against their own people are extremely shitty, but sure, it's us who's wrong."

Tim blinks at Jil. He was conflicted about it, sure, but the biggest problem was if he could trust them at all.

"Um, Bo also says to tell you that we're actually helping some of the planets, so what we take is not only for us."

"Huh, some Robin Hoods..."

"What?"

"Nothing. It still means that I don't know if I can _trust_ you. You hid something this big from me and I don't know what else can be there."

Jil exchanges a glance with Bo. They look concerned, but then turn to Tim with a determined look on their face.

"We're about to dock tomorrow at a port planet," they say. "Its library is the biggest in the sector and has history records and all that you can think of. You can go check them out and then see if we were lying to you or not. You could also stay there, on that planet, if you do not wish to stay with us anymore. But trust me, we meant no harm and we're not hiding anything. We would be sad to see you leave if you choose to, but no one will stop you."

With this, Jil left. Bo stayed behind long enough to give Tim another apologetic look and also to deposit Toro onto his lap.

Tim set on his bed, stroking the rat’s fur.

He should have known better, noticed something, went out to investigate.

Some kind of a detective he is – having lived here for almost a month, not even questioning all of the resources the ship had! Sure, they grew some crops here, had cattle and repaired the ship themselves, but the resources for the repairs could only come from the outside. Also, he should have been suspicious of how the ship and it’s population hasn’t just stayed on some planet permanently.

Before his anxiety has a chance to spiral even more, Toro starts rattling with agitation. Tim sighs and pats the rat on it’s head.

Okay, maybe Tim could cut himself some slack. He hasn’t been in the right state of mind for the last month.

But this has to end. He has to stay more vigilant from now on.

Tim puts Toro on his shoulder and sets out to find some food.

***

The next day comes and they dock at the port planet that Jil mentioned before. The planet is called Wamaal and doesn't look like a planet at all – it's more of a wast expanse of land, like a continent floating in space and not the sphere of a planet that Tim's used to think of when that word comes up. With this weird universe, it's only fitting.

The Wamaal planet is a neutral ground that sells all kinds of goods, no questions asked. Jil explains that they melt the precious metals here and extract the gems from the jewelry they get off the wealthy cruises. Tim turns away and tells Jil he doesn't want to know the details.

As soon as a party forms to be sent to the local market, Tim sets off with them to go to the main city of the planet. The whole place is more like a huge market than a city, with various shops and carts of all kinds of goods. Tim leaves the group of the Goddess' residents and goes to the library.

As he leaves, he feels Bo's lingering gaze on him.

The library building is old and pieces of plaster are missing here and there. It must have been beautiful, once upon a time, because the molding on it is intricate and must have been made with great care.

Tim pushes the big wooden door and it creaks ominously. Inside, everything is gloomy and dusty and there's not one person in sight.

Tim walks in anyway, looking around cautiously. Slowly, he passes the enormous hallway that leads to another one, then – the next one. The corridor he ends up in curves at one point and he finds himself back where he started.

Tim swears under his breath and turns the other way, now moving to the right side of the enormous hallway. He goes through some other passages and hallways and corridors and one more time ends up back where he started.

The hallway is as dusty and gloomy as when he entered, looming over him.

Okay.

Seems like a trap.

Tim closes his eyes and forces himself to focus.

He’s done blindfolded training and if having to get through an alien library is what it all was for – so be it.

This unexpectedly makes him feel more like himself than anything he's done during the last month.

Tim presses his fingers to the wall and follows it. Now that he can focus on the sound and not the image, the floor under his feet sounds like it’s wooden and not stone. The echo from his steps suggests even a larger space than he previously saw.

Then, he stops in front of what must be a door. He finds a handle and pushes it open. Holding on to the door, Tim takes a step into it.

Someone gasps.

Tim opens his eyes.

“Oh, a visitor!” a small humanoid creature says excitedly. “Excuse me, young one, I should have met you at the door!”

The creature sits on a tall chair behind a large table with books stacked on it. Their eyes are completely black and take up one forth of their face. There’s a slash of a scar that starts at their bottom lip and goes up to the forehead. There are four spheres orbiting the creature’s head.

When Tim looks at them, the spheres start moving faster.

“Do not be alarmed,” the small librarian says in a well-meaning voice. “These are merely here for our mutual understanding. I can not be expected to know all of the languages, am I? But knowledge is for all races who seek it, even the ones I have never met.”

Tim nods – that makes sense. He just hopes the spheres are only translating and not probing his mind.

“What are you, youngling? And what is your business in the great Library of Wamaal?”

It takes a moment for Tim to understand what exactly the librarian wants to know, but then he does.

“I’m human, from Earth,” he explains. “I’ve come here to research on Thelia? And pirate crimes in this galaxy.”

“Oh, may they be the pirates from this vast ship?” the librarian says and smiles. “They are well-known, especially in the ex-colonies.”

“Ex-colonies?”

“Those would be the planets taken over by the Thelians years ago, and then left when all of the precious resources were finished. Follow me, young human. The Histories are being well-documented, you will find all that you need there.”

The librarian takes off from their sit, a hovering platform carrying them in the air. This way, they stay on the eye contact level with Tim and he catches the absolute delight in the black eyes when he asks the librarian about how the history here is being documented.

On their way though the corridors, the librarian, who’s name is Loik, excitedly lectures Tim on the library and it’s history. It turns out that the records are literally being made right at the moment – there are species of semi-sentient rocks that have been used for the purpose for centuries. Through mysterious ways of omnipresent telepathy, the workings of which Tim does not understand, the rock creatures record the events all across the galaxy as they unfold. This is why the documented history here is not only well-done, but also absolutely accurate.

The librarian also asks if Tim had been brought here by a portal of some kind and blinks twice in a meaningful way that makes Tim think if that’s what winking looks like in their species.

Oh, Loik probably knows about how the pirate ship gets it’s new crew members – he did know about the ship itself and even said they were well-known.

So, Tim nods and confirms that that’s where he is from.

“Oh,” the librarian says. “This is why you want to know about the ship’s deeds?”

“They’ve been saying they mean no harm,” Tim sighs. “But I want to know for sure.”

“Then I will support you in your quest for the truth,” Loik nods. “The Histories are yours to search through!”

Saying that, the librarian opens the doors with intricate carvings and lets Tim pass first. The hall the doors lead to in enormous, bigger that any other they’ve passed. It’s selling is practically non-existent, being somewhere far away, and Tim gets lost in the countless rows of books and scrolls leading all the way up. The semi-sentient rocks, name of species of which Tim can not pronounce, look like regular gray rocks from Earth, except that they are surrounded by greenish light and are put on pedestals with paper under them. Letters appear on the paper as Tim and Loik pass by.

It doesn’t take long for the librarian to explain how the search system works here – it is based on tags that are attributed to each of the scrolls and are pretty easy to use. Tim thinks Babs would have loved them.

Loik leaves a silver bell for Tim to use when he’s finished, so he could get the librarian to escort him out, which would be a great help with the labyrinth system of passages that the Library is. Giving one last instruction not to touch the rocks, because they can get offended, the librarian leaves Tim to his research.

There's plenty of information on pirate attacks and what Jil had said turns out to be true – there's no deaths attributed to the crewmen, only one elderly man dying of heart attack half a day after the pirates left. The ships that have been attacked are the wealthy cruises, not dissimilar to the ones on super yachts on Earth. The people on them were all wealthy merchants, politicians or nobility from Thelia.

That seemed to be the Goddess' crew only target, so Tim looks into Thelia's history.

Thelia wasn’t mentioned much before, being one of the peaceful and quite unremarkable planets since the establishment of the Library’s records, but then it all abruptly changed. A new royal dynasty came to power – not much have been written about it except that they were apparently chosen by gods. And then, in just a bit over a century, the Thelian nation managed to turn the galaxy upside down. They set out to colonize other planets and introduced the concept of slavery into this world’s vocabulary.

There's a lot of planets that suffered from Thelia's slave trade and then were left in ruins after the colonizers exhausted the planet’s resources. It seems that after the effort to keep the conquered territories proved too much for Thelia’s economy, the Thelians just retreated back to their own planet and closed it from other races. They still had some influence over the planets they destroyed, having put governors of their own there.

The influence, however, has been cracking for the last few decades. There were a few planets that started revolutions and ended up getting rid of the governors. There were also some still resisting, and some that would jail their own people for voicing a different opinion. Thelia still had the control over a lot of trade routs and almost single-handedly operated the crystal trade.

That’s when the Goddess’ pirates turned up - the ship had been around the places where rebellions sparkled, the route lined up with the most intense parts of it almost perfectly. The pirates had also been noticed around planets with illnesses outbreaks, those illnesses being cured some time after they stopped there. They also would frequently stop at the poorest planets with no resources to be gained at, and if Tim’s willing to believe Jil, that was to leave something to help.

The thing is, Tim wanted to believe that. Desperately. He wanted the people on the ship to be good, to be someone worth the respect he has for them after the time traveled together.

Having thought about it long and hard, Tim decides to go back to the ship. He would not trust the crew members as much as he did before, of course, but there’s not much he can do about it. Also, he has his own ulterior motive – staying on the ship will allow him to travel around the galaxy and look for a way out.

It has to be somewhere, right?

That is – if the ship is still waiting for him at the docks – he spent half a day in the Library and it’s already dark outside.

Tim sighs and rings the silver bell.

“You are very welcome back, any time,” Loik says, waving goodbye. “Any time at all! To research any matter you need! Absolutely any kind of Histories!”

_There must be not that much visitors to the Library_, Tim thinks, _for the librarian to be so excited over him._

Tim thanks the librarian and goes to the docks.

The market is as alive at night as it is during the day – only change is that instead of food it sells something shady-looking tech and spare parts. Tim tries his best not to stare, even though some of the technology is really fascinating.

When he gets to the place where the docks start, he can’t see the ship. Tim briefly entertains the idea of becoming the rock caretaker at the Library, or whatever handyman they need there, out of sheer desperation.

But then, he notices the Goddess.

It’s sails are beautiful and the winged figurehead at the bow is glistening in the moonlight, freshly painted.

When Tim enters the ship, the crew members he’s talked the most during the last month are there, starting with Jil and Bo.

Jil looks at him expectantly and Bo crosses his two pairs of arms.

“I’ve read up on Thelia’s expansion and tyranny,” Tim says. “I saw your routes and how they were connected to the poorest planets and the rebellions. I believe you. I wouldn’t participate in what you do, but I would like to stay. If you let me, that is.”

Jil grins and there’s exited shouts around him and before he knows it he is being lifted by the strong arms of Hin, one of the first Var he’s met here.

Later that night Tim finds out that they’ve waited for him, having finished their business on the port planet much earlier.

And maybe that’s enough.

***

Another month passes without anything too unusual happening. The life on the ship goes on, Tim finds himself a job at engineering department and keeps busy. His relationship with the others is colder than before, but it gradually warms up.

“Why don’t you live on land?” Tim asks one evening, because it’s something that he still haven’t figured out.

There’s a small group of the people he’s working with and also Jil, eating after the night shift.

“It’s kinda a tradition by now,” Jil shrugs. “The founders of the ship traveled because they were more hopeful about finding the way out, I guess. Then it just went on and on.”

“You think we can’t? Find the way out?”

Jil shrugs.

“It’s been years,” they say. “If there were a way, someone would have found it, right?”

_I’m not just someone_, Tim thinks, but his confidence deflates a bit.

He’s about to ask Jil if they personally have tried to find a way out, but before he has a chance to do it, he gets interrupted. A young Var who’s been on look out for this shift storms into the room.

“Thelian ships! There’s Thelian ships closing off the way to the harbor!”

Everybody takes off to the upper deck, but Tim lags behind, unsure. They are on the way to a small planet called Mal, one of the places that’s suffered from colonization the worst. It’s resources of crystals have been taken away completely, and, with nothing left, Thelia left them alone. Alone, poor, starving and with the institution of the local government completely destroyed.

The Goddess’ crew brought supplies and vaccines for them and this was supposed to be another visit like that, but Thelian ships weren’t an expected part of it.

In the end, Tim decides to join the others on the deck – it’s not like they would rob the ships flanking the harbor, right?

“You asked why we’re not settling on land?” Jil says when he joins them at the railing. “This is why! Thelians have been actively denying us right to even anchor at the planets they control, something about nomadic habits being _impure_.”

“I hate them so much,” the young Var whispers behind Tim.

There’s a small boat with people in what looks like military uniforms approaching them from one of the big ships. The people on the boat look a bit like Uruk-hai orcs to Tim, but probably even bigger.

“Who are they?” he asks Jil, moving closer to them.

“Zebinians. They’re military watchdogs for Thelian’s government. Very strong and have an insane sense of smell.”

“Do you think they were sent to re-colonize the planet? Maybe Thelians found something else they want to take?” Tim asks, grimacing.

When Jil does not answer, Tim turns to them. They’re staring into a distance, their eyes glazed over. Tim calls their name and pulls on a sleeve of their white shirt.

Jil blinks.

“Bo’s been talking to me,” they explain. “He says the Zebinians were sent here to search the ship. They’re doing this to all passing ships. They’re looking for the pirates who robbed a Thelian cruiser a month ago. And shit, we still have one gem on board!”

Tim’s not going to approve of the pirating thing, but right now the safety of the ship and even the Mol planet is endangered.

“Can’t we hide it? Do you think they will find it?”

Jil gulps and nods shakily.

“Yes. I’ve seen them work, once. They’d sniff the gem even if it was buried under tons of sand – they just need to get close enough.”

Tim bites his lower lip. He wasn’t gonna assist in pirate crimes, of course. But the crew here is not really pirates, right? They’re more of a gang of robin hoods. So….

“Give me the gem,” he says. “I have an idea, but we need to do it quick.”

Tim’s idea is a risky one, but there’s really no other way.

There was a device he found in the back of the ship, one the older kids laughed at because it was an old kind of technology their parents played with.

They called it a hover board, but for Tim it looked like a skateboard.

He tried turning it on once and sparkles flew, it hovering above the floor only for a few seconds. Tim spent the last week trying to fix it, and he was almost sure he got it right, but then Tim had the watch duty and there was no time to check.

So here he is, with a stolen gem in his pocket and a probably functional hovering skateboard in his hand.

Tim places the board on the floor and presses the hidden button. The board vibrates softly and hovers off the ground. Tim puts one feet on it, then another – he’s now hovering just a feet away from the floor. He breathes in and kick it off to move.

_It’s just like skateboarding at home_, he tries to persuade himself while plummeting through the endless void of a cosmic ocean.

He nearly crashes into a flock of fish on his way, but evades them. Tim gets to the Thelian cruiser miraculously unnoticed and leaves the skateboard on the side of it, still on and waiting for him. The next part is the hardest, because Tim has to sneak in and out of the enemy ship without being noticed. All of the super-smell guys are now on the Goddess’s deck, so he’s in luck here, and his bat-skills are the other part of the success. Tim puts the gem into the furthest part of the lower deck, covers it with trash to mask the smell for long enough so the Zebinians won’t find it right away.

He creeps down the passage that leads back to where he’s left the skateboard, when he hears marching footsteps. He ducks into a door and clothes it behind himself just in time.

And then a team of people in bright-green uniform comes marching down the passage.

Tim holds his breath for a minute or so, before the sound of the footsteps leaves. He look around the room he’s in – it’s probably belongs to a commanding officer, being full of maps and planning sheets. The language on the papers looks surprisingly like English. Tim wonders what kind of software is used here to tamper with his mind – because, when he looks closer, he understands the words of the map. There are names of planets and some marks to indicate the ones that are already concurred or the ones Thelians plan to invade. Looking through the papers, Tim finds out that those plans have been put on hold because there is an unexplained natural disaster on Thelia and it’s affecting the planet’s economy and people. Tim remembers as many places that were marked to be invaded as he can and leaves the room.

His path back to the ship is uneventful, he lands onto the lowest deck and slowly makes his way up. When he gets to the place where the crew is gathered, he is met with applause and a lot of shouting. The crew congratulates him for getting the gem away from the ship – the Zebinians have been suspicious, but had no evidence to support the claim that the gem was here, and their superior officer, one of the Thelian royals, dismissed their claim as untrue. The Goddess has been allowed to pass through and to the Mal planet, to give them the needed supplies – it seems like Thelians do not care for the ‘impure’ habits of the nomads when they are docking at the planet that has no more value to them.

For the next month, the pirate crew of the Goddess lays low, because the Thelian military ships run rampant in the quadrant. There is a rumor that some kind of a disaster has attached itself to their planet and that’s why they act out, being overly cruel, but no one knows for sure. Thelia has closed it’s ports from any outsiders and is not allowing trade, in or out.

Tim and the crew are busy, thought. With the information he got from the map and a break Thelia has taken in their invading endeavors, it’s much easier to prepare the planets they have laid their predatory eyes on. Tim helps with training the would-be paramilitary resistance organizations and makes plans for the defense from invaders together with them.

It’s been months since he went through the Dark and ended up in the weird new galaxy with illogical physics laws. It’s been a bit less since he started settling in, finding his own role in the crew, new friendships and interests, reasons to go on.

So of course that’s exactly when it all goes to shit.

The ship is hurrying to one of the planets that needed fresh water, their pace is over the top, but they have to keep it to get there on time. The crisis with the water getting polluted has just happened, and they are suspecting Thelian ships may have had something to do with it, but it’s hard to tell. To get to the planet on time, the Goddess’s crew has come dangerously close to Thelian coast. They are passing by a wast expanse of dark and grim rocks hanging over the edge of the planet when there is a scream.

Tim is on the lookout that day, so he sees it first – a figure tied to the rocks on the edge. The figure is small and slender, the hair on the person is long and blond, their face delicate. Tim could swear they look like a human girl, a princess from fairy-tales, left for the mercy of a dragon.

Also, that person is crying.

“There’s a person there! We need to help!” Tim yells to the others.

No one replies.

He looks at the crew, and all of them are turning away from him, looking anywhere else. Nobody makes a move to stop the ship or help in any manner.

“Are you listening to me? There’s a person tied to the rocks there, that can’t be okay!”

Jil is the only one to look at him then, their expression grim.

“They’re Thelian. From the wealthy part, from the looks of them. Let them be.”

“You can’t be serious,” Tim gasps in disbelief. “What happened to the Goddess’ motto about helping anyone in need?”

“They’re Thelian! They are not anyone!” the young Var boy named Kit exclaims.

“I propose we let them _rot_,” another crewperson, an older one, says with their voice dripping poison.

“Jil,” Tim calls to them, trying to find at least one person with reason. “You can’t just let it happen! Where is your honor?”

Everybody stays silent. Tim looks around, but no one would meet his eyes.

“I know Thelians have hurt half of this galaxy if not more, but are you really gonna let your hate take over the good I know you all have in you? I won’t be able to live with myself if an innocent person dies because I didn’t take action,” Tim says finally.

“No one would stop you if you were to leave,” Jil replies.

Tim feels a shiver run down his spine at the coldness of their voice.

Nevertheless, he leaves.

He takes a change of clothes and some trinkets and tools he’s acquired over his time at the ship, packs them in a backpack and takes the hover board.

“They’re Thelian, they’re not worth it!” Hin says when Tim is already one foot over the edge of the ship.

“Maybe,” Tim replies. “But I can’t just leave them like that.”

And just like that, he leaves his new life and his new friends behind. He bites his lip and wills himself not to cry, and does not turn back.

The hover board takes him to the edge of the cliffs, just by the person tied to them. Their mouth is gagged, but their eyes are puffy and red from crying. Up close, they look even more like a human girl, only the unusual violet of their eyes helping Tim shake off the connection. He’s not sure if the person understands him, but he still talks to them in a calm, soothing voice when the undoes the ropes. As soon as the ropes are off, the person falls into him and clings, crying uncontrollably.

The hover board slows down under the weight of two people, but does get them to the shore. Tim carefully places the person on the send and takes a step back – their white and long shirt-dress has been soaked through and Tim tries not to look at them, because the glimpse he caught while unaware of how transparent the material became has let him know that this person’s anatomy is very close to a human female.

When Tim looks at the sea, the Goddess is already on it’s way out of the channel they were sailing through.

They are gone. They have really left and there’s no turning back.

Meanwhile, the crying has stopped and Tim turns to the person behind him.

“Are you okay?” he asks and then cringes. “Wait, that’s a stupid question, of course you’re not, and I don’t even know if you understand me.”

The person on the ground looks at him and frowns.

“Of course I understand you, you moronic idiot of a Var.”

Tim is more than taken aback by their tone, and the only reply he finds himself mumbling is:

“I’m not Var.”

“Good, those people are wild and impure. Who are you, then? And are you a boy or a girl – and none of that 'they' bullshit, there are only two kinds of people and everybody knows that!”

Okay, so maybe Tim sees why the crewpeople didn’t like Thelians – this person is insanely rude.

“I’m human,” he says, crossing his arms. “And I’m a boy- I mean a **man**, but the ‘two kinds of people’ thing is not true and don’t you make any other comment about that or Var, or I’ll regret saving you.”

“Barbarian!” the blonde says, standing to their full height. It’s not very impressive, because they are shorter than Tim. “You do not have any idea who you are speaking to!”

“Oh, enlighten me, then.”

“I amArithosea Cornelia Nerleilth Augustina Ysse, the princess of Thelia and the only heir to the throne of the Chosen Kings!” the apparent princess says. “Kneel before me!”

“That,” Tim says, his arms still crossed. “Is not happening.”

He looks at the girls beside him – he long golden locks of the hair and pale skin does make him think of the princesses he saw drawn in an old Scandinavian fairy-tales book he read to himself when he was a child. But the anger and contempt in her face make the comparison stop.

“If you are a princess, why were you tied to the rocks? Did you annoy your people that much?”

The princess goes red in the face.

“You knorcuffrd barbarian!” she screams and throws a rock at him.

Tim steps away just in time for it to fly past, not hitting him. She continues throwing the rocks, but Tim came over for dinners to the manor had to suffer through being around Damian, so evading things that are being thrown at him in an angry feat is easy.

When the princess has nothing more to throw, she tries to punch him, but Tim catches her hand.

“This,” he says, pointedly squeezing her wrist some more. “Is not happening either.”

She swears under her breath – Tim’s sure those are alien swearwords, he can’t understand them but the sentiment is there – and wretches her hand out of his grip.

“If you bring me back to the capital,” she says. “And tell them that you’ve slain an evil monster here to save me, my people will bring you riches and fame. You could find yourself in a quiet high position in court.”

“I’m not interested in court. But I could take you to the capital, and I would take a boat and a promise to let me leave safely.”

The princess looks up at him, her violet eyes calculating.

“Deal,” she says.

“Deal,” Tim nods.

They begin their track to the capital from a small village near the coast. It turns out that the princess has no idea where they are and does not know her way around the country, so the need to find the directions is now Tim’s responsibility. He suspects that the princess has never left the capital, or maybe even the palace, but she scoffs in disdain when he asks.

The locals are quite nice and give them food and clothes, even though they do not let the two of them stay in any of the houses. There is a whisper about a curse taking over the country and they are vary of the outsiders. But they explain the way to the capital, and that’s enough.

They manage to get a lift on an old and rusty wagon that’s being carried by two large and vaguely bird-like animals and get to the next town before the two suns set. Princess hides behind the coat Tim had given her and does not talk to anyone. They arrive to an inn and Tim persuaded the owner to let them stay there in exchange for one of the toolboxes he’s taken with him from the Goddess. In the first five minutes they are there, the princess scoffs at the waiters, makes a disgusted face at the food they bring and yells at the maid because the water for her bath was too cold and the towels not soft enough.

There is some talk between the traveling people about the princess being sacrificed to get rid of the curse surging through the land, but rarely anyone voices their concern for her. Also, no one recognizes the girl that’s wrapped herself in Tim’s over-sized coat. Tim finds out that the princess has been tied to the rocks for a day, and he really wants to feel pity for her, but she’s been such a dick to everyone they’ve met on their way that he can barely manage that.

Tim finds a caravan traveling to the capital and persuades the owner of it to take them on in exchange for fixing the wagons and generally supporting any mechanical difficulties on their way. The owner agrees, but gives them the shittiest places near the cages with some small and lizard-like animals that produce eggs, and the place smells like a coop with chickens that hasn’t been cleaned for decades.

The princess, of course, scoffs and bemoans loudly the caravan, the owner and all of their family.

When two days after they finally arrive to the capital, Tim doesn’t want the boat he’s been promised – he wants to strangle the princess.

He thinks instead about what to do next – maybe try to catch up with the Goddess, or go to back to Wamaal and start a research in the library on how the Dark came to be and how he could get back home.

The caravan stops at the market square and they have to walk to the palace on foot, with the princess complaining all the way about how hard the stone tiles are for her feet. Tim refuses to carry her, and they continue.

They’re getting closer to the palace, and there’s a crowd near a high wooden plinth. Two girls, no older than Tim, are being dragged onto it, being forcefully put on their knees. The girls are crying, near hysterical. The crowd goes wild.

“What’s going on?” Tim asks.

Surprisingly, the princess answers.

“Don’t you see the shameful yellow bonnets they’re wearing? They have committed a horrible crime of absolute indecency and have engaged in shameful activities with each other. Two women pretending like they can recreate the holly union of a man and a woman, how ludicrous! Now, the priest will have them repent for their sins and they will be taken to jail, where they belong!”

Were the girls gay? That’s what queer people had to go through here, if they dared to love a person of the same gender? No surprise that the Goddess’ crew said that he laws against their own people in Thelia were inhumane.

The girls are crying and promising not to ‘sin’ anymore. Tim feels sick to his stomach, but the princess is already dragging him away.

“We must go,” she says with utter disgust. “I cannot even _look_ at this!”

Tim does not talk to her when they get to the palace, when the guards recognize the princess and raise the alarm to have someone they call baron get down to the guest hall. Tim missed a bit of what happens next, but he sees that there’s no one to meet the princess and hug her, there’s no one who is relived or is crying because she’s back home safe. Instead, she in greeted stiffly by a large man with big mustache and burnsides. Some ladies bring the princess a change of clothes and get her into a big puffy dress. She explains to the mustache and burnsides guy the legend they agreed on, the one about a sea monster and Tim saving the princess from it, thus lifting some kind of a curse that’s been placed on Thelia.

“That is settled, then,” the baron says. “If the young man here saved you like you say he did, your royal highness, according to the law of the ancient forebears, he is to marry you.”

“What?” both Tim and the princess exclaim.

“That is the ancient law and therefore your duty,” the man scolds the princess when she’s about to say something. “We are going to leave you two to get to know each other better.”

The doors to the room get closed – all two sets of them, on the far corner and the ones close to where Tim and the princess are standing. The girl steps away from Tim, her face scrunched in disgust.

“That is not happening, I am not having some low-level peasant _criminal_ from a Var vagabond ship as my husband! I will have you hanged, I will find a reason!”

“First of all, why the hell would you think I’m a criminal?” Tim asks, offended. “No, first of all, I don’t want to marry you, either!”

“Oh please, you will sing a different song when they offer you riches and power of a king! You said you weren’t interested in a position in court, but a king is not just a _place_ in the court, it’s at it’s head! You’ll change your mind, you all do!”

She marches closer to Tim, a fury in a puffy white dress.

“And do you really think that I don’t know how you tramps appear on that ship? Everybody in the galaxy knows! You are either sacrificed or sacrifice yourself for someone else! And if you’re not a criminal that’s been convicted to it, that only leaves you to choosing to be a sacrifice, which is not better! Just because you've jumped to a chance to heroically sacrifice yourself for some girl...”

The two girls humiliated and being thrown into jail for being in love, the princess' flippant attitude - Tim is seething.

“Not a _girl_,” he says through gritted teeth. “It was for a man_– the one I'm in love with._ If you need another reason to hang me – I've seen what's been done to those girls and that was absolutely disgusting, you and your people should really learn some compassion and-”

The princess’ face lights up with a very complicated disarray of emotions.

Steps can be heard, getting closer to the door.

The princess surges forward and kisses Tim.

The doors open.

“Oh,” the baron says. “I see you’re getting along.”

The princess drapes herself over Tim and smiles at the man.

“Of course,” she smiles. “I think we are meant for each other. We shall have a spring wedding.”

The baron nods and marches away, together with the guards.

The doors close.

The Princess still has her hands on his shoulders.

“What the fuck’s just happened?” Tim breathes out.


	2. i tell the truth except for when i don't

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It must be his only way home, and he's willing to risk it all to finally get back there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was supposed to be much more detailed, but I am tired and just want to get to the end of the series

Tim steps away from the princess.

“What the fuck,” he repeats, “do you think you’re doing?”

"You've just said you love a man, right? And remember, I can get you hanged for that," the princess says, furrowing her eyebrows seriously.

Tim feels his blood boil again.

''Yes," he says with a feeling. "That's _exactly_ what I said."

The princess nods at that with utmost seriousness and grabs Tim by the elbow.

“Let’s walk,” she doesn’t exactly _ask_, dragging Tim to the door that leads to the gardens outside.

They walk in silence for 10 minutes, before they are lost in the maze of trees and bushes and are far from the main building of the palace.

“Will you care to explain what’s going on, _your highness?_” Tim asks, when his patience runs thin.

She stops and half-turns away from him, biting her lip.

“I don’t want to get married,” the girl explains. “I don’t want a husband – you or anybody else.”

There’s something brewing in her eyes and her hands are clutched into tight fists, so Tim doesn’t interrupt.

“I, I. I don’t. Don’t-- don’t want a _husband _at all,” the princess finally says, shaking.

"You don't want _anyone_ at all?" Tim asks carefully.

The princess shakes her head.

"I don't like _men_. At all. Instead. Instead I think. I can't see myself with a man, but if it was. Instead. A girl..."

"Oh," Tim says. "You're a lesbian."

The princess looks at him, puzzled.

"A what?"

"That's a word for women who love women. On my world, at least. What do you call them?"

"We mostly call them sinners," she says and scowls.

"_Them_?" Tim smirks.

"Before you get any ideas, just know that if publicly questioned, I will deny anything you say and I _will_ get you executed if you dare insinuate I am one of them. But.... Yes. I think I like your word better than 'sinner'. What do they call men that love other men?"

"Gay," Tim replies. "But, full disclosure, I'm not gay."

The princess looks scared and furious at the same time and Tim rushes to explain.

"I'm not gay, because I don't _only_ like men. I also was in love with girls, before. That's called bi, I don't only like one gender."

The princess looks at him, her expression thoughtful.

"Can't you just decide?" she finally asks, scrunching her nose in displeasure.

Tim crosses his arms.

"Can't you just like men?" he asks in turn.

The princess scowls, thinks for a bit, then nods.

"Okay, I see what you mean. I don't really understand all of this, as you see, my people are not as open as yours. But the important part is – am I in danger of you falling in love with me?"

"What?! No!" Tim exclaims, horrified.

“Why not?” the princess says, suddenly offended.

“Because there’s already another person I have feelings for and that’s it.”

"Tell me about him?" the princess asks.

It’s Tim’s turn to flush and turn away.

“I would rather not. It's personal.”

“I've told you something about myself that can get me _killed._ You're the second person ever to know that about me. I think I deserve to know something about your man,” the princess demands.

From the way her eyebrows are knitted stubbornly, something Tim had seen in Damian so often, he knows there's no helping it.

“He's not mine,” Tim sighs. “He won't ever be mine, he's straight.”

“He's what?”

“It's a word for people who only like people of the opposite gender. Like, the boys who like girls and the girls who like boys.”

“Ooh,” the princess says with a sympathy in her voice that only a queer person who's experienced falling for a heterosexual could know. “You have so many words for those. The words that are not offensive, I presume? Teach me those words.”

The princess doesn’t know how to ask, she demands, but step by step, Tim feels caution in her slowly melt away and the girl warms up. They walk around the gardens and he answers her questions about Earth, about sexuality and how it’s different forms are treated there. He answers honestly, tells her about the good and the bad. By the tenth circle around the rose garden, the princess tells him to stop his explanations about sexuality and genders, because it’s too much new information for her and she’s getting confused. They sit on blue grass on the hill overlooking a river flowing somewhere down under. After a long pause, Tim asks:

“So, this was the first time you’ve ever told anyone?”

“Yeah,” the princess sighs.

“Felt freeing, didn’t it?”

“Yeah,” she says and smiles a small smile, the first genuine one Tim sees on her.

“What’s about you? You told me not everyone on your world are open about who they are. Does everyone in your familiar circle know?”

“No. Only my-” Tim pauses there, because he’s not sure how to explain who Jason is to him. He settles on a simple version which he’s sure Jason would disagree with, but, well, legally it’s true at least - “My older brother, one of them. I haven’t told anyone else, because then I’d have to explain how I came to the conclusion that I’m not straight and that would involve explaining my crush on Conner and that would only complicate things for everyone.”

“Why?”

“Well, we’re best friends. Since we were kids. He’s- he means a lot to me, and I know I mean a lot to him too, not in romantic way, of course, but still. I wouldn’t want to destroy it.”

“Do you think he’d hate you, if he knew?” the princess asks and crosses her arms, hugging herself, like it’s more of a personal question for _her_ than it is something she wants to know about Tim.

“He won’t _hate_ me, he’s not like that. But, that would complicate things. Make him, I dunno, uncomfortable? He’s really active on the dating scene, always has been, and if he knew I was… Well, it doesn’t matter. He’s got his life, he’s got people who can make him happy and I’m okay with that,” Tim says with conviction.

“You’re a liar,” the princess says. “You’re not okay. No one could be okay with that. You’re either lying to others or to yourself. Because, it hurts, doesn’t it?”

Tim turns away and does not answer. There’s a feeling rising up his throat that’s nearly chocking him.

Of course it hurt.

How many times did he have to run away when Kon was around his at-that-time-girlfriend.

How many more did he have to force himself to sit trough and pretend like it didn’t bother him, especially when Kon and Cassie were a stable couple and a constant fixture at their Titans after-patrol gatherings.

He knew he could never be the one to make Kon that happy, so he had to step aside and let others do it.

“Seems like you were speaking from experience, your highness,” Tim says to her, his voice bitter.

“Aris,” the princess says.

When Tim turns to her, confused, she adds:

“I will allow you to use my shortened name instead of the full one, seeing how now we’re officially engaged. So it’s _Aris_ for you.”

“It’s flattering and much easier than all of that ‘Arithosea Cornelia Nerleilth Augustina Ysse’ stuff,” Tim smirks as she gapes, “but you didn’t exactly answer my question.”

The princess hugs herself tightly.

“There was a girl. We’ve grown up together, in the Northern palace. We did everything together. But then I had to move here, to the Central City, and she had to stay. She married last year, says she’s very happy. She sends me letters almost every month. Well, maybe not every month, she’s busy, you see, and-” Aris sighs and stops. Gulps heavily and continues, “She was the reason why I understood I would never want a man.”

“I’m sorry,” Tim says genuinely.

Aris doesn’t say it’s okay, she just nods, looking away, at the sunset.

They didn't stay long after that, and left the garden to go back to the castle.

***

Tim isn't sure anymore how old he is. Time moves differently here, month has more days in them, but days have less hours. He guesses he'll have to check when he comes back home.

_If_ he ever does, that is.

Because, it's been a few Thelian month now, and he hadn't found anything that could've helped him.

So far, he's been - officially engaged to the princess, showcased to the whole country to see on specially organized parades, felt like a goddamn toy, being measured for dress costumes and accompanying Aris to parties that could rival the Gotham's high society ones in their pompous pretentiousness.

Tim has lessons on Thelian geography and history, that sounded more like hardcore propaganda than real facts. There are dinners as well, and meetings with 'important people' who were all too full of themselves.

Oh, and, also, the the assassination attempts.

They start out as simple suggestions, sent to him in unmarked envelopes, to help certain 'people, who know how to rule the country better' to get rid off the princess. Tim laughs, showing it to Aris in the evening.

He ignores the letters.

Instead of offers, the threats start to appear. It goes on for a few weeks and then stops. The next step the mysterious senders considered appropriate is poisoning Tim's food. What they didn't count on was that Tim had shared dinner tables with Damian, and had managed to accumulate some kind of sixth sense to things like poisons or people tampering with his food.

After that doesn't help, the armed attacks start. There are people waiting for Tim with knives, swords and even wooden sticks in the dark corners of the castle. Tim finds it a welcome distraction, and a good practice for his rusty fighting skills.

"It's a good workout," he says to Aris, when she frets over the last attempt to knife him. "Otherwise, I'll forget how to fight."

"And you need it, for when you go back home," Aris nods seriously.

There's nothing in the castle that can help find the way back home, there's nothing else that comes to Tim's mind, and there's Aris, all alone and afraid, with people threatening to kill the first person she's ever shown friendliness to.

So, of course, Tim can't just leave.

They've grown closer, after the month spent together, as unlikely prisoners of the same shitty situation. Tim's grown to like her even, finding redeeming qualities in the princess. She could be sweet, is hilariously embarrassed by her small hobbies, is generous and possesses an unexpected amount of optimism. She also has her flaws, of course, there was no denying it. But, having to spend so much time together, Tim believed they both influenced each other for the best.

Because, for the first time in his life, he has to talk about his bisexuality, his attraction to boys and feelings for Conner. Aris wants to know about it - doesn't exactly a_sk_, she never learned how to be polite and _ask_ for things, she only knew how to demand, but Tim could see that it is important for her, something she needs, the way to get to know herself through the other queer person's experience.

So he talks about how he's watched movies with boys brave and soft in them, how fascinated by them he's been as a kid, how everything in him would go warm at the image of someone like Will Turner fighting for righteous things on the screen. But, he rarely saw boys like that in real life.

It was so much easier when he was a kid. Girls were soft and nice and boys could be angry and rude. So he mostly liked girls and didn't think much of it.

When he became a teenager, he was forced to think about it more, when he found out that a lot of his experiences weren't the same as his friends' at school. Had to do even more of the thinking when Superboy appeared, bratty and rude at first, then transforming slowly into a friend, a trusted ally Tim could tell anything to.

Love for him didn't come overnight, wasn't any kind of a striking revelation. It just seeped through his skin slowly, settling in Tim's very bones long before he knew it was there. It came gradually, grew on him like a small wildflower in the middle of his chest, and, by the time it blossomed, Tim already knew it to simply be a part of who he was.

Reluctantly, after a lot of hesitation, Aris starts sharing, too. It turns out that her grandmother was a lesbian, too, and, due to the royal tradition, she was forced into a loveless marriage, with a man she could've never been able to love. She was the first to figure out that Aris wasn't interested in men, that the family her dolls formed in pretend-play didn't include prince-toys at all, that she blushed when her best friend held her hand. The old Queen was the one to talk to her, the one who explained, the one who taught Aris how to hide who she was to be safe.

They share all of this in secret, in corners of the palace away from anyone else, whispering and sitting close. They share rooms and hiding places, and Aris leans into him more often than not when she feels insecure during the social gathering.

It's not unexpected that it's interpreted as romantic by the court.

They also spend some afternoons teaching Aris how to dance properly, because her inability to do that is not actually connected to her lack of talent, but more to her being uncomfortable with her previous dancing partners. She confesses to Tim that her previous dance lessons would end with the men who taught her putting their hands where she didn't want them, so she'd throw a fit and it would all stop.

So dancing in the garden becomes their small gataway from the court and their leering smiles, and the dance is almost the same as waltz so Tim has no trouble following the steps. It's a small thing, but it's theirs, and they have a lot of fun together.

It's a safe space for them, but it's small, in the grand scheme of things, because the threats are still there, with assassins and letters and Tim can't really find anything about who is doing that because he can't just ask around the course for witness and it's all a complete mess.

What's more, the spring is drawing close.

Together with the date of the wedding.

Tim hopes for something to happen, something to come out of nowhere and save him.

Nothing of the sort happens.

Tim and Aris get married on a warm spring day, with crowds cheering and a long celebration following. Tim becomes the prince consort of the Thelian court at the side of the future Queen, who's coronation is to be in a few weeks after, because now,as a married woman,she has the right to take the throne earlier than she was supposed to.

The day feels like the most surreal experience in Tim's life.

In the evening, they are escorted to the royal bedroom. The doors behind them close, and Tim and Aris stay alone for the first time that day.

Aris looks up at him and crosses her arms, hugging herself. She bites her lip.

''Okay," she says. "Let's do this."

"You don't have to sound so serious about going to sleep," Tim laughs.

"We're not supposed to just go to sleep, Tim," Aris says, sounding irritated. " We're expected to have children. Have heirs to continue the royal family."

"Aris, I know you don't want this, just about as much as me. We don't have to have sex, it's not like someone's gonna find out about it."

"But they **will** find out," Aris says in an angry whisper. "They're listening, now!"

"They're what?" Tim says, also lowering his voice. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you'd know? It's always like this, there's honorary guards, from families of both husband and wife, who stand at the door and listen for _it_ to happen," Aris pales while saying that and Tim's eyes open more and more with shock. "It's just how it always works!"

Tim remembers something creepy like that from a period drama that was once on TV, about royals in either France or Austria, and he wonders how in two different worlds the royal court managed to come up with so similar of a fucked up tradition.

"That's fucked up. This whole country is fucked up," Tim says, his hands holding his head like it might fall apart. "God, I don't usually swear so much, but. Oh. My. Fuck!"

Tim wants to hit something and maybe scream, but none of that is an option now.

So, he steps closer to the bed and extends his hand to Aris. She takes it like it's an invitation to the gallows.

Tim pulls the princess to the bed and up, until they both are on it. Then, he pulls her up, so that they stand.

"Well, I don't know much about heterosexual sex, obviously," Aris says, quirking a brow. "But _something_ tells me you're doing it wrong."

"No sex is gonna be happening here, sorry," Tim says, laughing a little. "But we gotta pretend for our listeners, right?"

Tim lets go of one of her hands and jumps. The bed underneath him squeaks.

Aris looks at him like he's gone completely insane.

"C'mon," he says. "At least _something_ can be fun tonight?"

Aris tries exactly once before deciding that jumping on the huge royal bed is indeed fun, and soon they're agreeing on throwing in a few moans so their charade would be even more convincing, and it sounds so stupid that both of them barely manage to keep in the laughter.

When the pair of them exhausts themselves by jumping on the bed, they fall onto it, Aris dragging Tim down, trying and almost failing not to laugh.They turn to face each other, their faces close.

"That was fun," Aris confesses.

"Well, I'm glad you liked our first night together," Tim says in a sultry voice and gets jabbed in the ribs with an elbow.

"And I'm glad that you're with me," Aris finally says. "I never thought I'd feel safe in a bed with a man, but I do, with you. You did so much for me in this past month, and I think I must thank you."

There is a long pause after that.

"Well, are you going to?" Tim asks, laughing a little. "Thank me, that is."

This time, Tim gets kicked for it. It's not really painful, he's had worse at training, so he laughs at Aris' pouty face.

"You don't have to thank me," Tim says. "I didn't do much. There's still people who 'bear ill will', so to say.''

"I'm sorry they're trying to kill you," Aris says, grim.

"I don't think they mean it as something personal against me," Tim sighs. "They just don't want a person who they can't control by your side."

"Because they probably think they can control _me_, right?" Aris whispers.

Tim sighs and doesn't answer. He just hugs Aris, and she lets him.

***

A week before the coronation, another accident happens. This time, it's Aris who's in danger. Her kinda-horse-looking-creature goes mad during the game of something that looks way too much like polo, and only Tim's quick reaction saves her from falling down and possibly breaking something.

Tim is hailed a hero, the servants are called to fret over Aris, and Tim catches Baron turn away, his lips pressed into a thin line.

The man is not _a baron_, like Tim thought the title would suggest - Baron is actually the man's name. It's a name that's been passed from one oldest son to the other in their family, for generations now. Also, the man is the First Councilor to the princess, and has been the de-facto ruler of the country since the princess's parents died.

Baron practically raised Aris, has been taking care of her since she was a little girl, so that's why she doesn't even want to hear a word from Tim about the man's very probable involvement in the threats and assassins.

There's also another surprise they get, when the two of them take a stroll to the city's shops to get stuff for Aris' coronation. With the two of them married, with the coronation coming, they have much more freedom and now are allowed to have trips on their own, without supervision.

The surprise is waiting for them at the shop's backdoor, a young woman suddenly launching herself at the princess. The woman says she wanted to talk about the curse that was plaguing the country when Tim arrived, the one that seemed more like an illness to him. It took away a lot of lives, and slowly started to go down after the made up monster-slaying done by Tim. The young woman, who calls herself Winy, is a scientist or some sorts, and she talks about doing research like it's some kind of mortal sin. Nevertheless, Winy is determined to get to the princess the facts she's discovered - that the curse was actually a virus spreading, an epidemic that stopped with colder months coming around, and, as the scientist believes, will come around again, as soon as summer starts. Winy tells them that her great-grandmother remembered this happening before, and that now the scientist has a few ideas on how to stop it, how to create a vaccine. But she also has to leave soon, so she hasn't got much time. They agree on ways to reach her, and the young woman walks away discreetly.

On their way back to the castle, Tim praises the scientist's findings. Aris scoffs all the way.

"I know we talked about this thing you called _racism_," she says, when Tim asks her what's wrong. "But I still have a hard time believing that savages can come up with things like this."

When Tim asks to explain, being quite taken aback by her words, Aris explains that the scientist girl was one from the local first nation, the people who lived on the planet before the Thelian royal dynasty was established. Winy's skin did have a bit more of a bluish tint to it that Aris' and her head was covered with a scarf, to, as now Tim understands, hide the thick, rope-like strands of hair the locals have.

There had been a certain history of colonization of this planet by Aris' race, and the locals that lived here before seemingly gave the lands to them, seeing them as 'god-like and fit to rule'. Tim strongly suspects that this retelling isn't really what happened. But, with the amount of historical propaganda and general brainwashing the Thelians went through, it's not really possible to dispute.

Him and Aris talked about it, and he tried to persuade her to take a different approach to history than the one she was taught, to keep an open mind, but unlearning it does take time.

Speaking of history - recently, he started nagging Aris about it more and more, trying to understand how and when the princess's race came to the planet, where did they come from. Aris grew irritated by it, mostly because Tim's questions uncovered the fact that really a lot of things she was taught since childhood weren't making much sense.

History didn't make sense when even a few questions were asked, and the story about the princess's parents' death didn't add up. They died at sea, as Baron told her, but there was no reason for them to even _be _traveling anywhere. Tim, of course, does some detectiving out of pure boredom, and finds out that what the royal couple had before their untimely demise was did a disagreement with their third counselor at that time - Baron.

Then, two more not so _accidental_ accidents happen to Aris over the course of the week. She doesn't say anything when Tim gently asks where was Baron at that time, but becomes thoughtful instead.

The princess's mood worsens with each new day. To take her mind off the possible betrayal of her guardian, Tim helps redirect her energy to planing the coronation, that is to be held soon. There's a sacred, ancient text that is supposed to be taken out of the vault to be brought to the coronation, and Aris takes Tim down the many stairs towards the vault. 

There's a single chamber and a stone altar in the middle of it, and it's occupied with a box. Aris opens it to find one small page of text in it. Tim can't exactly see it, but he remembers that Aris told him the text is in an old language no one can read anymore. Then, Tim looks at the page.

"Aris," he whispers for some reason. "You can't read this?"

"I known the letters, but the words don't make sense at all," she says. "See, that's an old language of our ancestors, so no one knows what it says."

"I do," Tim says.

"What?"

Tim looks down at the page. On it, in a cursive, the letters are written:

_’Twas brillig, and the slithy toves_

_ Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:_

_All mimsy were the borogoves,_

_ And the mome raths outgrabe._

"So," Tim says, staring at the page without blinking and not really seeing it. "You're telling me this is left by your ancestors?"

"Yes, why did you-"

"And it's an old text in _their_ language?"

"_Yes_, now quit asking these damned questions and finally tell me what's going on!"

"I was such an idiot," Tim says, as if not listening to her at all. "I _thought_ you looked human, I _thought_ you understood my language because it's just how this world works, but you've always had this accent that almost sounds British, _oh my god_!"

Aris walks up to him and grabs him by the lapels of his shirt, finally forcing him to look at her.

"Tim, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, and also I guess you've kept some of the swear words? Like 'hell', but also you got some new ones I remember you yelling at me while we met? I bet Jason would have a field day analyzing your language and how it evolved-"

Tim's babbling, his look showing that he's not really present, spiraling into the deep of his mind, so Aris shakes him, hard. 

"Tim, you're overthinking and you need to stop it, now!"

He does, and looks at her, finally more present.

"Explain yourself, now!" the princess snaps.

"I think your people came from my planet," Tim says. "And I think I might know what the 'curse' plaguing the country is. We need to grab that scientist girl and go to the Library of Wamaal ASAP!"

Before Aris has a chance to ask, Tim's already running towards the exit.

The princess gathers the skirts of her dress and dashes after him, swearing under her nose.

"Wait! What about the sacred text?" she yelps, when Tim grabs her by the hand and drags her into the carriage.

This stops Tim, the princess can almost tell that see the thoughts in his eyes come to a halt.

"Sacred texts?" Tim says, blinking. "Those weren't any sacred words, Aris. They're a poem, from Alice in Wonderland, and they're just complete gibberish."

***

It takes some lying, bribing of guards and also stealing a small ship, but they do manage to set sail towards the Library, having grabbed Winy on their way.

This time, the Librarian meets Tim at the door.

"I knew you'd come back," the small librarian says. 

"Mister Loik," Tim says, breathless, having run up to the Library from the place where they docked. "I don't think you told me everything, last time that I've seen you."

The librarian makes a rustling sound, which Tim guesses to be a laugh.

"Well," Loik says. "You did not ask."

The librarian turns around with his chair and disappears into the corridor. Tim follows him, the two young women after him.

They go past the huge room and all of the scrolls in it, down the path that leads to the further corner and past some of the shelves, and end up in a long but impossibly small corridor that leads to a separate, hidden chamber. In it, Loik points to his scar that goes through his face, long and thin, and explains about how it was inflicted by a sword of one of the men form the newly formed Thelian Empire. The one from the group of people that came on a ship never seen before and took over the peaceful nation living on that land. Their leader married into the royal family and established their own. It didn't take long for them to build an army, to make alliances with the nearby planets who also had conquerors' ambitions, to take over more planets, to betray and kill. In less than a year the whole galaxy was shaken, the maps rewritten.

It also didn't take long for the new established Thelian Empire to find and try to destroy the Library, that was documenting all of their crimes.

"We hid what we could, and were threatened to never tell about it," the librarian says. "I was just a youngling back then, but the magic they bound me with still is in place. So I could not _tell_ you, but nothing in the binding says anything against you looking for it yourself."

"You've expected me to find it last time I've been here," Tim understands belatedly.

The librarian nods.

"I have. But, alas, you wanted other information back then."

Tim thinks that he might have found out sooner, might have had this realization earlier. Instead, he stagnated at the Thelian palace, eating fancy cakes and being paraded around like Aris' expensive toy.

"Tim," Aris says, and he didn't even realize when she's come so close to him. "We'll get to the bottom of this. If there's a way to send you back home, we will find it."

There's a softness to her voice she rarely lets show, and Tim smiles to her. There's an unspoken understanding they've managed to reach, and Tim squeezes her hands in his.

"Also, Winy here will let us borrow her genius for research, won't she?" the princess adds, nodding to the scientist.

The girl is visibly confused with all that's happening, but she nods.

The three of them spend the few next hours researching. Winy finds information on viruses and vaccines for them, Tim and Aris researching into Thelia's earlier history.

It's been quite a few hours already, when they find the pages describing a mass of dark energy forming an entrance to their world, through which the ship entered.

After that, Tim can't sit still even for a second.

He paces the room, back and forth, fast, ranting to Aris and gesturing a lot. The princess laughs at his misery and sends him outside to get some air, promising to continue working in his short absence. 

Tim goes outside and takes a breath of cold evening air. The cold helps him get his emotions under control. This is the first time in month that he has been handled a sliver of hope, and it makes him feel dizzy, so much that he doesn't think he's very much aware of his surroundings. Maybe that's why, when he's about to head back and feels like someone's looking at him from the shadows, he shrugs it off.

***

While he's been away, Aris and Winy had managed to find a lot about the establishment of new Thelia and the humans that came on a wooden ship never seen before. They also found all they could about the portal that took them from their home planet - it seemed to be just like the Dark the Var planet described. The only thing lacking is it's exact location.

"It must be somewhere around Thelia," Winy says, pointing at the picture showing the ship that brought humans to the planet. "It would've been strange if they went far from the portal."

"If these documents here do not lie," Aris says, determination burning in her eyes, "Baron knew everything. His family conspired to hide this information about my ancestor's past, and they have been lying to my family for years, since the first Baron in their line was appointed the Keeper of the Sacred Texts. He has a lot to answer for."

They set sail back to Thelia and Tim stands at the boat's bow, looking forward and not moving at all.

When they dock back at Thelia, Tim notices that Aris and Winy had spent the whole trip talking together in a corner, and that makes him smile.

At the palace, their search for Baron proves to be futile. Only half an hour later do they manage to locate a guard who points them in his direction.

The direction they indicate is down the stairs, deep down into the cavern that holds the vault with so called sacred text, which Tim knows now is just a piece of Lewis Carroll's poem.

Together, the three of them take the stairs down to the vault.

There's no one in the underground chamber - however, there's an opening in the wall that wasn't there before.

"I feel like this is a trap," Tim says, but still follows Aris and Winy trough the wall.

Baron and a group of soldiers point their swords at them as soon as they enter the room.

The wall behind them clothes with a menacing screech. 

"I told you this was a trap," Tim says to Aris.

"Not now, Tim," she hisses.

Far away, to the other side of the chamber, a soft hum can be heard. It comes from a tear in the reality, a void at the end of a long cavern. It's almost the same as the one on Var, except that it's grey.

Tim fixes his eyes on it and barely listens to Baron giving his evil monologue a go, talking about his family taking advantage of a stupid king a few generations after the royal Thelian dynasty was established and hiding the truth about their origins. He faintly remembers being proud at how good Aris answered Baron, how she sounded strong and proud, like a real queen.

He can't stop looking at the portal. Now, that he knows the Dark was just that, a portal, he feels like the way home is just in front of him, yet he cannot reach it.

Then, Winy shakes him.

"Aris has negotiated for you to fight Baron in a duel," she explains, her voice panicked, "So you need to get back from whatever you were thinking about and _take that sword_, damn it to hell!"

Aris moves to hand him the sword, and hugs him.

"This is a very old tradition, and it's honored, no matter what. If we win this, even his loyal soldiers would not stand for him," she whispers into Tim's ear. "But be warned - he's the best swordsman in the whole galaxy!"

Tim takes the sword and looks up to Baron, who is looking at him with a mocking smile.

Then, he looks at the portal again.

That might be his way home, but he may never find out for sure if Baron's still in his way.

The best swordsman in the galaxy - oh please! 

That's no match for Tim's training and the rage burning in him.

So, he ends up defeating Baron in less than 15 minutes.

The man falls to his knees and the soldiers that have been loyal to him just a little while ago follow Aris' instructions to hold him down, while the princess tells her now ex-guardian that he is going to be put it jail for betraying her.

"No one would ever believe you," Baron spats.

"Oh, you're not going to be charged with treason. You will be, however, accused and incarcerated for murdering my husband."

Tim turns to her, confused.

There's tears in the princess's eyes, but she holds herself together well.

"I wish we had more time to say goodbye," she says, reaching out to hold his hands. "But I'd have to let you go and do this crazy thing where you jump headfirst into that scary portal, don't I?"

Tim feels his own sight becoming cloudy, but he smiles through it, squeezing Aris' hands in his.

"This doesn't have to be a goodbye," he says. "I'll visit, if I find a way."

They hug and Tim turns away, so she wouldn't see him cry.

He walks to the portal, his steps unwavering.

"That Conner of yours better come to his senses and marry you after all of this!" Aris yells after him.

Tim laughs and it's so loud, with the echo of the cavern.

He turns to see Aris grinning, and Winy looking up at her with something _different_ in her gaze.

"Good luck to you, too, princess!" he yells back and then there's no more time, because he's facing the grey void in front of him.

It looks and sounds just like the Dark. 

It must be his only way home, and he's willing to risk it all to finally get back there.

So, Tim takes a deep breath and takes a step into the void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"Oh no," Aris says, monotone, as soon as Tim disappears. "Look. My husband has just been murdered. Guards, arrest Baron for it. "_
> 
> yass, almost done!
> 
> One more, THE LAST ONE, part to be published - it would be a separate one, so subscribe to the [series](https://archiveofourown.org/series/1420471) to see it
> 
> pls support the suffering writer with your kind feedback, I am in need of it to help me finish the series

**Author's Note:**

> this was a wild ride and guess what - it'll get even more wild next time!  
Feedback will certainly help with getting the next part done, just sayin' 😉
> 
> I was basing the princess' appearance on the John Bauer illustrations for Scandinavian fairy tales [[like this one](https://ih0.redbubble.net/image.631484359.3256/raf,750x1000,075,t,45474B:e9c9d4e890.u1.jpg)]


End file.
